Farmers who commit suicide are cowards, says Karnataka Agriculture Minister, draws flak
Bengaluru, Dec 3: Karnataka Agriculture Minister B C Patil on Thursday said the farmers who commit suicide are cowards.
"The farmers who commit suicide are cowards. Only a coward who can't take care of his wife and children commits suicide. When we have fallen (in the water), we have to swim and win," Patil said addressing farmers at Ponnampet in Kodagu district of Karnataka.
The Minister was explaining to bamboo growers of Ponnampet how profitable the agriculture business is, but some cowards do not realise that and commit suicide.
To buttress his point, Patil cited an example of a woman who was wearing gold bangles.
"When I enquired with her how her hands were full of gold bangles, You know what she said? She said, "This mother earth has given me for my 35 years of toil."
"Doesn't this please you all after listening to this?" Patil told the gathering.
He said when a woman who had depended herself entirely on agriculture and achieved big why other farmers cannot do it.
Reacting to this, Congress Karnataka unit spokesperson V S Ugrappa condemned the Minister's statement, saying he has shown disrespect to the farming community.
"It's a disrespect to the farmers. He should apologise for it," Ugrappa said here.
He said the Minister should have gone into the subject to find why some farmers commit suicide.
"No farmer wishes to end life. There are many reasons such as floods and droughts, which have not been understood and solved yet. Instead of understanding the gravity of the problem, the Minister gives such an irresponsible statement," Ugrappa said.
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Bodies of woman, man retrieved from lakes in Jamshedpur, probe underway
Jamshedpur(PTI): Jharkhand Police on Sunday recovered two bodies, including that of a woman, from separate lakes in Jamshedpur.
A woman’s body was found floating in Dimna Lake on the outskirts of the city within Boram police station limits, an officer said.
Locals at the picnic spot alerted police after spotting the body in the afternoon.
A bag found near the lake helped authorities identify the victim as 43-year-old Sanju Devi, a resident of Sonari.
Though the exact reason behind the death could not yet be ascertained, it seemed to be a case of suicide due to domestic discord, officer-in-charge of Boram police station Neeraj Kumar said.
In a separate incident, police recovered the body of 37-year-old Zeeshan Riyaz from Beldih Lake within Bistupur police station.
Riyaz had been missing since Friday evening.
Police said investigations are underway to determine the cause of death in both cases.
